Contraception, IVF, and Political Red Herrings

There have been a few headlines recently that caught my eye because of the inane comments politicians have been making about contraception. I don’t have space to write about all of them, so I will give you “Mr. Generic’s” view of what he thinks contraception and/or in vitro fertilization have to do with being pro-life.

The first statement that comes to mind involves how many children a husband and wife might choose to have. While talking about this, Mr. Generic claimed that he was totally pro-life and has been his entire political career, but he also supports access to contraception. Furthermore, he told an audience that his faith doesn’t have a problem with contraceptives! He went on to suggest that people of other faith persuasions—like Catholics—do have a problem with contraceptives and that’s okay because this is America. The problem with his comments is that they expose his lack of understanding when it comes to certain contraceptives, as well as the practice of in vitro fertilization—both of which can and do result in dead babies.

Let’s begin with contraception, the red herring question that always seems to get politicians—and even many pro-lifers—in trouble. From a purely scientific perspective, regardless of what your religious identity might be, there are enormous problems with anyone who takes the position that he is opposed to abortion, but at the same time is not opposed to contraception. At the very least, one would hope that any man or woman in the public eye or otherwise would take every opportunity to clarify such comments by saying that there are some alleged contraceptives that are really abortifacient because they cause human beings to die before they have a chance to implant in their mother’s womb.

Obviously it would help immensely if this person first fully understood the science involved in the creation of a single individual human being. For example, it is not a matter of religious belief that the union of the human sperm with the human egg results in a human embryo who is neither his mother nor his father. Every single human being possesses his own DNA at the instant his life begins.

For those who simply want to cut to the chase and get their science right without a great deal of study, there is even an iPhone app that goes through the process of human development. You could also view this simple DVD that shows the beauty of preborn babies. No matter what your preference might be, learning the facts about the human being, his beginning, and why most contraceptives are abortive is really not that difficult.

The problem is, even though this is a question of scientific fact, it has become extremely controversial as the public is, by and large, dedicated to the practice of contraception and even the aborting of a baby. After all these years it is tough to crack that wall of ignorance, but that does not mean that informed people should not try.

This brings me to in vitro fertilization, equally as deadly and equally as taboo for anyone trying to be popular, trying to be elected, or merely trying to garner human respect. It takes courage to tell the truth about IVF. But whether or not the truth is well known, babies are still dying in those laboratories—and on a daily basis. Sadly, very few people want to get to the truth of the matter at hand.

So what to do?

The Mr. Generics in our culture are very numerous; what we need are more people who are not so much concerned with the “winning response” as they are with the right one.

Maybe Mr. Generic is hopeless, but we must not follow in his footsteps. Please start spreading the word. Proclaim the truth, for it really does set people free.

As you know, red herrings—especially in the case of contraception and IVF—can be deadly. They are fallacies that have been tossed around to scare people into avoiding the truth. Don’t be fooled.

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Combat the evil with truth! Join American Life League in defiance of the culture of our day—this culture of death. Through your actions and words, become a part of our movement to build a culture of life. Pray, be informed, and educate others.